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2011-08-23 - The Arrow
Log It's night, a short while after sundown...the time of night that Elizraim's usually finished at L'esprit, if ey's gone there that night, and on eir way to home or to "patrol" as the case may be. Tonight, though, something would appear to have interrupted that. A short distance from L'esprit, a small group of thugs from two different gangs have gathered in the streets, facing off against each other and armed with various melee weapons--no guns, as far as can be seen. Combat is already in progress, and there are a few injuries, with some out of the fight, but nothing too severe yet. Elizraim, nearby, has just finished suiting up and is winging towards the scene, while trying to remember how to work the comlink. Thus, those nearby might get a rather odd (and shouted--Elizraim hasn't quite got the idea of how comlinks pick up sound yet) message. "I ...quest...aid at Lower East Si...L'esprit (swearing in Mioemet) this blasted thing! There. Is this working? Two group of mortals are engaged in combat...no g...oh, blast this! Just come!" And then, Elizraim joins the fray, taking out one of the combatants right away with a silver-light blast, and a second with a flying knee to the side of the head. "Cease this foolishness at once!" Predictably, the fighting continues. Superboy was writing down more measurements in Headquarters, it has been a slow process has he hasn't been able to find anyone to really help right now. Still, when the call for help arrives, he quickly leaves Headquarters and flies with inhuman speed through the tunnels and soon to the surface to head toward Eym's direction. In his own ear he will hear Superboy say, "I'm on my way Eym." Shouldn't be difficult to find Eym with his heightened senses, but still....why is Eym asking for help in a fight between humans? Is there something dangerous about it? Eym. Asking for backup. Panacea is tempted to stop and check the identity of the current occupation of the White House, but she doesn't have time. It's likely that the 'two groups of mortals' are, oh, two entire street gangs. Or armies. She can't imagine Eym calling for backup for anything less than that. Well, the group's a decent size, but it might have more to do with the fair number of innocent civilians in the area, actually. An old man who was unfortunate enough to be in the way is down, trying to crawl away from the battle, and Eym quickly clears em a path by knocking a grinning thug upside the head with the butt of eir spear. In eir weakest form, though, there are enough thugs to be a challenge for Eym, if they all focus on em...and many seem to be doing just that, as a group of four--two from each gang--charge at em, forcing em back on the defensive. Eym solves that problem by launching into the air and taking out one with a couple well-placed blasts, but the situation worsens as a few of the men in the battle pull out guns...though they point them at each other, not at the hero. "Man, you call in the cape? You tryin' to trick me?" "Don't you try to pin this on me! You're the one that's tryin' to get out of this fight! This was supposed to be clean!" That is when Superboy pulls up, and sees a little bit of what is happening. He calls down, "Halt these actions immediately, or I'll show you just how useless your weapons are." The old man is X-Rayed quickly, and Superboy's jaw sets. "You fractured an old man's arm." The anger is clear in him, but he's restraining himself for now as he moves to set himself between the two fighting gang teams. "Real mighty of you guys, how would you like it if I used my power to break all your right arms because you were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, like now?" The threat...sounds almost like a promise. Eym can likely sense Superboy's anger at how the old man was so senselessly hurt. And it is a dark emotion, an emotion that Black Adam has taught him to tap into...a dangerous one. Panacea will sense it too. She might have to have some words with Superboy...after this. For right now, she's swooping down, leaning off the skybike to grab a child that's dangerously close to the crossfire. Removing the civilians from the equation strikes her as a good plan of action. As much as she can, anyway. Eym smacks another thug upside the head. "Enough!" ey says, as Superboy finishes speaking. "Enough! If you must slay each other, have the grace to spare others from harm!" The gangs, though? Not listening. No, they've reacted to Superboy's presence in various predictable ways. Two of the ones with guns, feeling tough today, point their guns up at Superboy and open fire. Others...run for various vehicles, getting in and starting to drive off at high speed, heedless of other traffic. Still others, yelling and screaming at each other, resume their fighting even more aggressively than before the superheroes arrived, yelling at each other about traps and tricks and betrayals. Superboy just stands there to take the bullets, well, sorta. He may not be as fast as Impulse, but he moves his hands and catches the bullets with inhuman speed, before moving to lift a hand to raise his glasses and heat vision the tires of the vehicles that the gangsters are running toward. He is far from pleased, but he is not following through with his threat or promise...at least yet. With more missions in Project Cadmus, and more of Black Adam's training, in battle Superboy is becoming colder and yes, more efficent as well. "I suggest everyone stays where they are," he says in a voice that carries well. "I think the cops would be less of an issue than me right now, then again...I don't have high expectations of your intelligence." He then drops the bullets as he talks, to show exactly what he just did to everyone looking at him. Course, Panacea may catch in Superboy's head if she is listening for surface thoughts: Thank goodness I caught those, if they had ricocheted off...it could have hurt an innocent bystander. I shouldn't forget how stupid these gangsters are, and that they will really shoot. Superboy is angry still, the wish for violence is there...but he is also restraining himself to try and place himself into a position of authority...it's not going so well though. Panacea skids the bike to a halt, vaulting off it. Quickly, she's scanning minds, not reading them, just looking for the leaders of this little fracas. For those without whom the others would lose much of their fight. In this situation, such always exist. Superboy. Being extremely intimidating, and handily disabling getaway cars. Well, that actually gets a fair number of the group to surrender--including one of the gunmen--and the rest--especially those that were heading to the cars--scatter and run in various directions. Well, it partially worked! Some go into alleys, others down the sidewalk, and a couple particularly dense ones try to carjack a poor motorist passing by, as though they'd have time for that. Both of them go down to emotion blasts, and Eym swears in Mioemet again, flying into a nearby alley after some of the fleeing thugs. "Mongrels such as these do not listen to reason," ey mutters as ey goes. "Catch those you can! There is something strange in their words..." Panacea's mind scan reveals one of the leaders still wielding a pistol in the midst of the crowd, though he's mostly kicking people away from himself to try to get a clear shot...at the rival leader, a big man who is easily taking on two of his smaller rivals unarmed. Well, you can say one thing for the leaders of these gangs...they don't run away and leave the others to do their dirty work. And for a moment...is there something else she senses? It's difficult to place... Superboy growls beneath his breath, frustrated. He bets Superman and Adam would have an easier time of it then he is. But Superboy notices the one leader still fighting and he moves in quickly, soon grabbing their metal weapons and crushing them in his hands, "On the ground, now! All of you!" And if they aren't getting down quick enough? Superboy swats them, and makes them hit the ground with a grunt...he will be doing this to all that surrendered if they don't get down quick enough...and those nearby....he doesn't seem to notice the other leader hiding in the crowd, using them as cover. Meanwhile, Panacea notices the guy with the gun. She sends a quick mental nudge his way, that should knock him out before he can fire that thing. However, she's more concerned with what...else...she might be sensing. A thought to the other two, Careful. There's something odd here. Many of the gang members obey, and others are quickly smacked down by Superboy. Having finally gotten a clear shot, the leader with the gun levels his weapon at the unarmed leader...but right then, Terra's mental bap hits him, and he goes down, out like a light, as the gun clatters to the sidewalk. The big, unarmed leader stares defiantly at Superboy, but as the fight is so effectively ended, he finally sinks to his knees as well, though that's as low as he's going to go. Eym catches up with the thugs pretty quickly, firing a blast to take one of them down...but just as ey's about to go after the others, ey pauses, and the thugs take the opportunity to continue running. Elation? But why would... ey thinks. Ey turns slightly, trying to locate the emotion, and Terra's message comes through. Yes...very odd. I just felt...this feels wrong. I'm coming back, ey thinks in reply, and turns to start back...just as there's a very light "thwip" noise. Wh... No! Terra! Hel... And then an arrow strikes em--in the shoulder, thanks to that turn--and ey lets out a scream as pain floods through eir entire body. Eir wings rapidly shrink down--turning ghost-like and transparent as they do, and ey begins to fall, still screaming. The scream catches Superboy's attention, his heart going cold at the sound. That scream...isn't natural...and it shouldn't be surprising. No scream should ever come from Eym's mouth. It almost freezes Superboy, but his concern for his team members override him to move instictively as he suddenly launches into the air and files right for Eym! As soon as he touches his comrade, his tacticle telekinesis spreads out over em to permit em to float. It does not expand the force field aspects of it, sadly (though theroically he may be able to figure out how), just the flight as this is what essentially gives Superboy his super strength. Panacea separated herself from the bike, so she can't go after Eym. Superboy's on it, though. Superboy...he's hit bad. Give him to me and then deal with these guys. I wish Thunderbolt was around. She seems quite calm...any worry not leaking through the telepathic sending as she heads for the bike. Eym slowly stops screaming...but the pain, Terra could tell, is very much still there. It's just that...ey's getting weak. Very weak, very fast. Ey floats limply in the air next to Superboy, seemingly unable to move. "Eym...aulvren...aulv..." ey mumbles, voice faint. And from a room in a building nearby, Superboy can hear the sound of rapid footsteps, moving away through the building... Superboy makes a sound of frustration. He moves quickly for Panacea first, placing Eym with surprising gentleness on the ground. He looks at someone nearby, "Call the police to arrest these gangsters!" He then is flying off and heading toward the sounds. He has already tuned himself to them, blocking out distractions. Normally, Superboy this hyper-focused is not going to happen. But right now, Eym is hurt, and he wraps his anger and need to win around him like an armor like Adam taught him. Nothing else matters right now, except winning. This...isn't good. Terra can only come to one conclusion based off of what she's sensing. She drops to one knee next to Elizraim, and frowns. Knife. She needs a knife...she's not exactly equipped to do surgery in the middle of the street, but there's no time and she can fix the damage later. So, she springs to her feet, knocks a nearby gangster flying and takes his switchblade. There. That'll do it. Ahem. Nobody saw that, right? The footsteps continue running, and a figure emerges onto the rooftop, clad in dark clothing and a cloak. Quickly, it begins running, jumping to another roof...but it isn't nearly fast enough to evade Superboy. Still, it runs on, single-mindedly...and Superboy might be able to tell that something is very strange about this person. There is no heartbeat...no sound of breathing...despite the fact that it is running like it's going for the Olympic record in the 100-meter dash. The young royal lies almost still, just breathing, now, and occasionally mumbling quietly. Just a single word. "Eym...Eym..." Superboy jets forward, frowning. He knows something is wrong, but he must catch the figure before he can understand anything. He continues to move with inhuman speed, his arms reaching out to grab his shoulders and if he catches the figure, to curve upward, carrying it up into the sky....leaving quite a terrible drop below if it did manage to escape Superboy's grasp. "Sorry, Eym," Terra murmurs. 'Cause, this is going to hurt. Quickly and neatly, she cuts the arrowhead away, hoping that once it's out she can deal with whatever poison this is. Hoping. If ey dies, then somebody's going to pay. Yeah. Panacea is angry...and not exactly hiding it. But she's also entirely focused...and perhaps more than a little vulnerable. The figure is caught by Superboy, and the hood falls back as it is carried up into the air...revealing not a human, but a figure that seems to be made of some kind of odd material...clay? It turns its head around 180 degrees, revealing open slits for eyes which glow with an odd, purplish light, and an odd symbol carved into its forehead...and then, suddenly, the lights of its eyes go out, and the form goes limp. Eym doesn't react...and the cutting goes surprisingly easily, as eir flesh provides almost no resistance. Once the costume is cut away a bit, it is easy for Terra to see why...Eym is transparent, eir body ghost-like and only partially material. The arrow comes free, and for a moment, the black arrowhead seems to suck in small particles from Eym's body, before it is too distant to do any further damage. Silvery blood drips from the wound, but that too is now transparent. Superboy is...shocked, yes. But he soon starts to cary the limp clay-like figure back to Eym and Panacea. He soon sets it down, coming back by the time Panacea has cut the arrow out. "It is not human, nor is it alive...I believe," he says with concern. "It did not sound as if it had gears like a robot either," he adds. "Is Eym going to be alright? I can carry him back to his home," he says, meaning the hotel and not HQ. He will be there to support Panacea in whatever she needs him to do, from helping with Eym and handling the evidence...and making sure the said evidence does not come alive to hurt Elizraim again...if it does, Superboy will smash it. "He needs to recharge. Also...this needs to be kept as far away from him as possible. The hotel's probably good, but I think I want to put this somewhere safe in HQ. We need an evidence vault." Ey'll live...but Terra's still angry. And letting herself stay that way, quite deliberately. "And you're right. Not alive. No life force at all." The arrow now out of eir body, Terra can tell that--however subtly--Eym is strengthening again. The energy produced by the anger and fear and worry felt by eir allies and the other people still in the area is flowing into em, and though the transparent look remains, it is slowly beginning to lessen. It was a very near thing, but it looks as though ey will recover. Superboy nods. "I'll figure out a way to store it," he says. He is greatly concerned right now, and will make a point to contact the local Magi, Oculus, to assist in securing this non-living, non-gear thing. News Posting Young Justice Member Critically Wounded In the aftermath of a battle between two street gangs in the East Village today, known Young Justice member Eym is said to have been badly injured. Two street gangs showed up in the Lower East Side, apparently as part of an arranged battle. Young Justice's Eym entered the fight and cleared the way for 77-year-old Douglas Jones, who was in the midst of the group and had suffed a broken arm, to escape. Eym was soon joined by teammates Superboy and Panacea, who aided in protecting civilians and ending the fight. With members of both gangs fleeing, the three attempted to capture as many as possible. However, during the chase, out of sight of any witnesses this reporter could find, Eym was apparently attacked and shot with, by most reports, an arrow. Superboy retrieved Eym, and Panacea was seen attempting to treat the injury. Witnesses also report that Superboy may have captured a suspect, a figure wearing a cloak. Young Justice's members left the scene with the cloaked figure before police arrived. Eym's condition is presently unknown. The program cuts to various reactions from the community. Though there are those who take the opportunity to say that this is an example of why these young heroes should be kept from risking themselves, a surprising number seem to just want to wish Eym a swift recovery. Category:Logs Category:The Threat in the Shadows